By Alesha Capone
A drug-affected man who committed a carjacking in Werribee, while clad only in his underpants, has been sentenced to more than 37 months imprisonment.
At a sentencing hearing last month the County Court heard that Benedict Kearney, had earlier pleaded guilty to carjacking; causing serious injury recklessly; conduct endangering persons; assaulting an emergency worker on duty; resisting an emergency worker on duty; and damaging property, while on bail.
The court heard that on July 15 last year, a motorist driving along Railway Avenue in Werribee noticed 37-year-old Kearney laying on some grass.
She contacted triple-0 and an ambulance took Kearney to the emergency department of Werribee Mercy Hospital.
Shortly before 5pm, Kearney left the emergency department and walked through the hospital carpark, wearing only his underpants.
About this time, Kearney’s victim left a nearby medical centre and walked to her car, which was in a carpark opposite the hospital.
Kearney pulled the woman out of her vehicle and stole the car. However the woman managed to get into the backseat.
Kearney did burnouts before colliding with another vehicle in the carpark. He drove through garden beds to avoid being stopped by a police divisional van which was near the carpark’s exit.
Kearney drove along the wrong side of Hoppers Lane, and lost control of the car.
The victim was thrown from her seat, as the car became stuck in a ditch.
Kearney ran into a paddock and when he later emerged from bushland, attempted to punch a police officer involved in his arrest.
The court heard that Kearney’s victim suffered a mallet fracture of her index finger, requiring surgery, and that she would never have full use of her finger again.
The court heard that Kearney had told a doctor he had used a combination of methylamphetamine, GHB, and Xanax that in the lead-up to his offending.
County Court Judge George Georgiou said Kearney had engaged in “outrageous behaviour” but that he had good prospects for rehabilitation, if he refrained from drug use.
Judge Georgiou ordered Kearney to spend 37 months and 14 days in prison, with a non-parole period of 20 months. More than 310 days which Kearney has already spent in prison will be counted as time served under the sentence.
